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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27051223">In Heat</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/dralexreid/pseuds/dralexreid'>dralexreid</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Dr Piper Bishop [17]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Criminal Minds (US TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-08 22:28:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,841</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27051223</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/dralexreid/pseuds/dralexreid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dr Spencer Reid/Dr Piper Bishop</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Dr Piper Bishop [17]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1972852</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>In Heat</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“C’mon sweetheart, where’s your spirit?” Derek teased Piper as she pawed gently at the punching bag. She tried to ignore the other women gawking at Derek in a sleeveless sweatshirt.</p><p>“I’m not good at this stuff, Derek.” She whined. “Give me an unsub to profile any day, just don’t tell me to punch one.”</p><p>“You may not get a choice sweetheart. Okay, forget the punching bag.” He moved her over to the gym mats, holding up his palms. “Punch me.”</p><p>“Derek-”</p><p>“Do it. Punch the palms.”</p><p>“But-”</p><p>“Pipes, if you can’t do this, you can’t be on the field.” Piper raised her fists and punched lightly. “Good. But I need you to tap into your anger.”</p><p>“I don’t have anger.”</p><p>“You threw your copy of Geoffrey Chaucer at my head the other day.”</p><p>“That wasn’t anger.” She kept punching lightly. “That was…me having fun.”</p><p>“What about the time you threatened me with your 5th edition of Wuthering Heights?”</p><p>“You didn’t make me go through with it,” she retorted, punching slightly harder.</p><p>“Okay, stop, stop.” He held her shoulders. “I want you to close your eyes.”</p><p>“Der-”</p><p>“I know what I’m doing. Close ‘em.” She obliged, standing still, his hands grasped at her shoulders. “Imagine Tobias Hankel hurting Reid.” He let her go, hoping her memory would trigger her anger. “Now imagine Hotch telling you to stay put.” Punch. “Good. Imagine that bullet missed your shoulder and hit Rossi.” Punch. “Imagine Penelope in the hospital.” Punch. “Imagine JJ crying and you being absent.” Punch. “Good. Imagine Emily getting punched by an unsub.” Punch. “Imagine Hotch kicking you out.” <em>Crack!</em> “Jesus, not the nose!” She opened her eyes and almost shrieked at Derek clutching his nose.</p><p>“Shit, Derek, are you okay?” She ran to the end of the gym to grab two water bottles and a bunch of paper towels. “I’m so sorry,” she apologised as profusely as the bleeding of his nose. She tried to insist on taking him to a doctor, but Morgan just laughed, walking off into the locker rooms. She stared at her fists for a minute before doing the same.</p><p>“She punched you in the nose?” Emily couldn’t stop laughing as Derek gingerly touched the bandages on his nose. Piper walked in with a plate of chocolate cookies for him wrapped in plastic.</p><p>“I’m really sorry, Derek.”</p><p>“Wait, were there girls around?”</p><p>“Yeah, I felt so guilty, they were all just staring at us.”</p><p>“Relax, Pipes. I’m proud of you. And even if you did break my nose, I got all this to compensate.” Derek gestured provocatively to the rest of his body.</p><p>“Eww, gross. Piper, punch him again.” Laughing, they followed JJ into the conference room. Rossi walked in after they’d all been seated, as the norm for his dramatic entrances.</p><p>“Morgan, what happened to your nose?”</p><p>“Piper’s knuckles,” Emily said between chuckles. Piper just held her head in her hands. </p><p>“Can we please get started?”</p><p>Charles Luvet was found floating in a Miami marina last night. Local ME thought that he was only in the water for about an hour. There didn't appear to be any attempt to weigh the body down. The dumping could have been convenient, as opposed to a means of hiding the crime. He was the third victim found in Miami over the last two months. Though the locations of the bodies are different, many of the elements are the same– All males, 25 to 35, all travelling, all asphyxiated with no signs of sexual assault. None of the hyoid bones were fractured. No visual signs of trauma. No ligature marks. Yet, the unsub still managed to asphyxiate grown men. He could have used a chokehold which wouldn’t leave any signs of trauma and would also be a way of controlling a male. A powerful grip from behind would give the unsub all the leverage. None of these victims looked out-of-shape or easy to control. In fact, they all looked remarkably fit. The recovery locations were very different. Charles Luvet was found in the water. Daniel Brown was partially buried in the shallow sand dune. Paul Hayes was stuffed into a dumpster, all found in high-traffic areas.</p><p>There wasn’t much to discuss on the jet so Piper settled down to read her book on Charlemagne as Rossi slid into the seat next to her. “Something’s been bugging me?”</p><p>“Hmm?” she asked, not looking up from her book. </p><p>“How does a history teacher become an FBI agent?”</p><p>“Well, 4 kids in my class were found dead in the woods and the BAU was convinced it was an adult. Except I was sure it was one of my kids once I got the details of the case from Morgan. Then I yelled at the sheriff for not listening to me, stormed out and then Gideon let me stay and help with the case. He convinced Hotch to make me a temporary consultant and after I took the profiling classes, made me a permanent fixture.” Rossi blinked a few times and Derek snickered.</p><p>In Miami, Piper shed her white blazer in the SUV and rolled up her purple sleeves as the cars pulled up to the police station, pulling out her sunglasses from her pocket.</p><p>“Is it always this hot?” Spencer asked his team as two blonde ladies sauntered past Rossi and Morgan. </p><p>“Every day, all day,” Morgan murmured. </p><p>“That’s South Beach,”  Rossi smirked as Piper laughed behind him.</p><p>“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Spencer spluttered. </p><p>“Oh, they know.” Hotch smiled as Piper and Emily retrieved their bags from the back of the car. Hotch heard Piper stammer at JJ taking the bags off her, then shake her head in defeat. Derek saw a young woman strut over to them wearing a green tank top and white pants trailing to her knee. Lucky for him, the bandages weren’t necessary on the trip, though the nose was a little swollen, he knew he was still as handsome as ever.</p><p>“FBI? Detective Lopez, Miami PD.” Before JJ could shake her hand, Derek stepped forward, tenderly shaking her hands, introducing himself in a dulcet tone. </p><p>“Someone tell Derek to keep it in his pants,” Emily muttered in Piper’s ear. “The last thing we need is a scandal.” Piper snickered quietly.</p><p>“I don’t think we have a chance. No solvent on the planet could dissolve that animal magnetism,” she murmured back as Emily choked on her laugh.</p><p>“Something wrong?” The detective asked, watching Emily go red.</p><p>“Nothing, she just choked on something. Just needs water.” Piper deadpanned as she shoved a bottle of water into Emily’s hands. “Breathe, Em.” Before anything got messier, JJ interrupted.</p><p>“Agent Jareau–JJ. We spoke on the phone. These are Agents Hotchner, Prentiss, Rossi, Derek, Dr Reid and Dr Bishop.” </p><p>“Well, I hope there’s no test because I’m lousy with names,” she joked humourlessly. </p><p>“Agent will be fine.” </p><p>Reid looked up, seeing a familiar face. “Hey, isn’t that–” </p><p>“Detective LaMontagne just arrived from New Orleans to ID the cop they pulled from the bay last night,” Lopez informed them. </p><p>“Detective, it’s good to see you,” JJ greeted him. Emily almost choked again as Piper rubbed her back, struggling to hide her smirk.</p><p>“Yeah. Charlie Luvet and I worked together for 7 years. We haven’t formally ID’d him yet, but we believe it’s him.”</p><p>“Sorry for your loss, man,” Derek said gently. </p><p>“So, you all know each other?” </p><p>“Professionally,” JJ stated. Piper tried to contain herself for dignity’s sake at JJ’s response. </p><p>“Yeah. The BAU helped me out on a case about a year ago. Just for the sake of clarity, I’m not here to investigate. Charlie was supposed to be married this August, so if the guy that floated up last night was him, I guess I have the honour of notifying his fiancee, so she’s gonna need some answers, closure, and I’m just here to get that for her.” </p><p>“Do you know why he was here?” Piper asked from the back of the group. </p><p>“He was meeting up with some college buddies to compete in a regatta. He was a big boat guy.”</p><p>“So, he wasn’t travelling alone?” </p><p>“Well, he came alone. He was meeting them here.” </p><p>“We should track these friends down," Hotch added, "see if they saw anything. And the two other victims, any potential witnesses?” </p><p>Lopez denied. “Paul Hayes was here alone on business. Daniel Brown came down to windsurf by himself.” </p><p>“So, they were all essentially alone. The unsub watched them long enough to know that.” As they walked up the stairs to the precinct, Emily noticed JJ linger on the stairwell with Will, before snickering to Piper as they walked away.</p><p>“What was that?” His accent dripped from his tongue as he ran his fingers through his hair.</p><p>“What was what?” </p><p>“‘Professionally’? Hey, you still haven’t told anyone about us?” </p><p>“It’s none of their business.” </p><p>“Where do you tell them you go every weekend?” </p><p>“I don’t.” </p><p>“Are you ashamed or something?” </p><p>“What?” JJ’s voice raised in pitch and lowered in volume. “No. No. It’s just in this team, everyone knows everything about everyone. There’s no privacy. My personal life is one less thing they can profile, all right? We should get up there.” </p><p>“Yeah. Wouldn’t want your team to think something is up, would we?” </p><p>“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Please don’t do this, okay?” </p><p>“You realise that this is gonna happen every now and then when our career paths cross, right?” </p><p>“Doesn’t make it any less awkward.” </p><p>“Okay. Well, never realised how much awkward could sound like ashamed,” Will said as he stalked off. The New Orleans detective and JJ joined the rest of the team in a small room where they could work from.</p><p>“This is everything we recovered from Paul Hayes’ hotel room. It’s all been processed, so don’t worry about touching anything.” </p><p>“Thank you,” Hotch replied, paying attention to what little evidence they had. </p><p>“I’m gonna take the skinny kid and Derek to the dumpsites, So I got my cell, radio. If anyone doesn’t give you anything, just call me.” Lopez said as she walked off and Piper laughed as the woman left.</p><p>“She did say she wasn’t good with names,” Rossi said to them.</p><p>“Remembered Derek,” Emily laughed.</p><p>“Wonder how she’d describe us,” Hotch smirked. “I’m gonna take LaMontagne and JJ to ID the body. See what you can find.” He ordered before leaving.</p><p>“I really don’t wanna know,” Piper remarked to him as he walked past her, examining the ring of the table as Emily sighed sombrely, gazing at the spread of evidence.</p><p>“It’s always sad seeing someone’s life reduced to the things they had with them when they died. It’s just so clear they didn’t know how short their time would be.”</p><p>“Odd,” Rossi remarked and Piper raised an eyebrow. “His wife reported that he’d been down here almost a week on business, yet he never wore any of the suits he packed.” </p><p>Emily glanced through the PDA. “And there are appointments going back 6 months, but nothing is listed for the week he was here.”</p><p>Piper turned over the ring in her hands. “Hayes was wearing running clothes when he was killed. Who takes off their wedding ring to jog?”</p><p>“I’ll call Hotch,” Emily said as she left the room. Piper’s cell buzzed at the same time.</p><p>“Yeah Morgan, you’re on speaker.”</p><p>
  <em>“I just got an address out of Charlie Luvet’s rental. It’s to a bar in south beach– 11257 Palm Drive. It’s a gay bar, Pipes. I don’t think Charlie Luvet was ever out here to meet friends for a race.”</em>
</p><p>“Same here with Paul Hayes. His wife said he was here for business but he hasn’t worn his suits, there’s nothing in his PDA booked for the week and he took off his wedding ring to go jog. No better place to have an affair than Miami.”</p><p><em>“Yeah, we’re gonna have to rethink our victimology.” </em>Piper slipped her phone in her pocket, running her hand through her hair.</p><p>“So that’s why you hate Miami?”</p><p>“I don’t hate Miami.” Rossi just stared at her. “Fine. It’s not the greatest place on earth. It’s always hot and it’s full of PDA.”</p><p>“I’m guessing you weren’t much fun in high school,” he joked.</p><p>“I grew up in San Francisco. Our idea of fun was sneaking around behind our parents' back to go to the beach and set a bonfire at midnight. Not easy to do when your father’s a detective.”</p><p>“In other words, you were the one starting the fire?” Piper’s wicked smile was the only answer he needed as they left to join Emily in the bullpen.</p><p>Piper was perched on a table, hair tied up messily, as JJ threw her and Emily a water bottle. “Oh, thank you. You read my mind,” Emily said exasperated. </p><p>“I don’t understand how it can be this dry when it’s this humid,” JJ whined. </p><p>“Mmm. Sweat all your fluids out outside and then come into bone-dry air conditioning.” </p><p>“Well, then if I could just hook this up to an IV–”</p><p>“I’ve never been so jealous of ice cubes.” Piper scoffed, wiping the sweat off the back of her neck. “How do you girls cope with long hair?” JJ just smiled as she guzzled her water. “At least we have something fun to look at, keep us on our toes.” </p><p>“What do you mean?” JJ asked.</p><p>“LaMontagne,” said Piper nonchalantly, kneeing Emily gently as JJ turned around.</p><p>“You think so, huh?” JJ muttered.</p><p>“Don’t you see it?” </p><p>“How tall do you think he is?” Emily asked.</p><p>“Well, he’s a little shorter than Derek,” Piper murmured, loud enough for JJ. “5,7, 5,8?”</p><p>Emily murmured back, “Isn’t it funny? We have all of Miami, and we choose the cop from New Orleans?”</p><p>“Can you blame us? Look at him.” As JJ huffed away, Piper high fived Emily before jumping down as Hotch looked at her, like a father would a misbehaving child. <em>Yikes,</em> she mouthed at Emily before joining him near the front of the room. JJ marched to the front of the room past LaMontagne and called the precinct to attention, passing it over to Garcia on the large screen behind her.</p><p>“Our technical analyst, Penelope Garcia, will start off by talking about the 4 remaining victims still missing.”</p><p>
  <em>“Two of them disappeared on the same day a few months ago, and then the third and the fourth went missing within the last 4 weeks.” </em>
</p><p>“We think the unsub is targeting these guys on their travels,” Piper added for clarification. </p><p>
  <em>“Yeah, and then when the befriending happens, whoosh. They vanish. However, it looks like there’s a connection between our current victims and the men that are still missing. See, 2 of those 4 missing men were totally out, openly gay when they disappeared. I saw one of them on socialcrib.net. That’s a social networking site. They had a photo of his boyfriend.”</em>
</p><p>“Assuming the 4 missing men are meeting the same unsub, it means he’s killing almost weekly, which also means he may have already chosen his next victim,” Hotch summarised the gravity of the situation.</p><p>“What we need is more information on the movements of our victims before they met the unsub. We have 3 confirmed victims and 4 possibles. Some of our other colleagues are out in the community now trying to see if anyone remembers anything about these men,” Emily filled in.</p><p>“It’s also not just the fact that our victims were travelling alone that left them vulnerable to the unsub. We believe they may have been looking specifically to meet other men. Based on the ages of the victims, we’re looking for an offender in his mid to late 20s. He’s familiar with the area, and he may be offering assistance to those who are not,” Hotch continued, nodding at Piper.</p><p>“He studies his victims’ habits, learns how to gain their trust. This unsub is charming, charismatic, intelligent. We assume he frequents gay establishments, but he may also work at one. His targeting of male homosexuals suggests this is either a hate crime or more likely, a man struggling with his own sexuality.”</p><p>“And, given the technique with which he kills, he may have had prior defence tactic training. He may be a member of the military or recently discharged. He steals their possessions, but he doesn’t pawn a thing,” Emily finished. Done with giving the preliminary profile, they started packing up to head to the hotel. JJ finished first and left. “Do you think what we said worked?”</p><p>“No clue. Hopefully, Will will do the rest.”</p><p>“Why won’t she tell us?”</p><p>“Because she’s not sure if she wants it to be real,” Piper said plainly, looking for a file to put back in the case box.</p><p>“Why not? He’s a great guy.”</p><p>“And she’s insecure she’ll mess it up if it’s real.” She popped back up from the side of the desk, file in hand.</p><p>“I’m always surprised at how good you are at this stuff.”</p><p>“I choose to take that as a compliment, and besides,” Piper smiled winningly as she lifted the heavy box, dumping it with the others. “I have 4 PhDs for a reason.” She sighed, looking at the boxes forlornly. “I always feel bad, leaving like this. Feels like a day isn’t enough.”</p><p>“Yeah, well. Cases take time and I have a gut feeling. We’re getting close.” Piper reached down to grab her go-bag only to find it swatted by Emily who lifted it for her.</p><p>“Em.”</p><p>“Don’t Em me. Go.” They laughed as they headed out, slipping past JJ and Will on the porch outside the glass doors. As Piper unlocked the key to her room, JJ argued with Will. </p><p>“Are you ashamed of this?” Will rubbed the back of his neck as he desperately tried to make sense of his relationship. JJ was gorgeous, intelligent and he thought she was perfect.</p><p>“No.” </p><p>“Did I offend you?” </p><p>“No.” </p><p>“You want to see another guy?” </p><p>“No." </p><p>“You want to break up?” </p><p>“Y–” His heart broke as he heard a different syllable slip from her lips. He never thought his skills in interrogation would elicit this response. He steeled himself to ask again, but his voice still faltered.</p><p>“Y-You do?” </p><p>“Yeah.” </p><p>“Okay.” He nodded, broken, his eyes pleaded for some warrant, some explanation. He had to have done something wrong.</p><p>“You supposed to hop on a plane every weekend forever? And neither one of us is willing to relocate, so–” Flabbergasted. He didn’t know that was the way he felt, but he felt it as JJ made up excuses. She was hiding, pretending that it was a logistical issue, hoping it would all go away.</p><p>“When did we have that discussion?” </p><p>“Well, do you?” </p><p>“Maybe.” </p><p>“You want to give up your career in New Orleans so you can live in Quantico, Virginia?” </p><p>“Well, I’d at least like to have that option. You know, look, JJ, all I’m looking for here is an acknowledgement to your friends that you care about me.” </p><p>“Why? Why is that so important to you?” </p><p>“Why?” He stepped back. He may not be a profiler, but he understood one thing that night. Sure, JJ cared about him, but she was ashamed of it. He wanted to shake her, to explain to her that he loved her, more than anything in the world, that he would, at the drop of a hat, give up his career and move. For her. For her, he would move heaven and earth just so the sun wouldn’t hurt her eyes but she wouldn’t, couldn’t even acknowledge the love they shared and this was a folly she would have to fix. “Have a good night, JJ.” He moved past her out into the tropical evening as she stood speechless and thunder resounded in the sky.</p><p>The next morning, Piper folded her grey blazer in her hands as she walked beside her team to the next crime scene. They found Detective Lopez clearing away the body for the medical exam and she turned to the BAU, summarising their most recent finds. The victim was male, in the same age range and they found Detective Luvet’s police badge about a half a block from the scene, meaning the unsub either ditched it or dropped it when he was getting away. There was still no sign of Luvet’s gun, suggesting the unsub was still holding onto it.</p><p>“Why would he kill out in the open like this?” The detective asked.</p><p>“He’s losing control emotionally, could be devolving. He’s going off the pattern by leaving the body out in plain sight like that,” Derek thought aloud.</p><p>“He was interrupted. By a busboy,” Lopez informed them, beckoning the young witness to come forward. He couldn’t have been older than 22, wearing a low cut, striped yellow shirt, a beaded necklace hanging from his collarbones. He’d come out here on his break to have a smoke and found the victim on the ground. His friend said that they had just been mugged and that he was a cop, So he took off, and he chased after the alleged muggers. </p><p>“So he’s impersonating Luvet?” Emily suggested, coming to a mutual agreement with the team. “Could just be a ruse he used to get away.” </p><p>“But if he is impersonating his victims, why?” Morgan asked.</p><p>“Transference,” Hotch answered. “Whatever he sees in his victims, He wants for himself. He hates who he is and he’s targeting tourists because he sees them as living a kind of lie, too.” </p><p>“Could be suffering from cluster B.” Piper noted.</p><p>“What’s cluster B?” Lopez asked her, eyebrows furrowing.</p><p>“A cluster of personality disorders,” Reid answered. “It’s also called the erratic, dramatic emotional cluster, an enduring pattern of inner experience and behaviour that differentiates itself markedly from the expectations of the individual’s culture. It manifests itself–”</p><p>“Essentially, it’s a group of personality disorders,” Piper summarised, seeing Lopez’s exasperated look as Spencer nodded, mirroring Piper’s polite cat smile and nodding. “My best guess is if he’s struggling with his sexuality, he probably came from a very conservative background growing up meaning his sexual desires conflict with the uh… norms he grew up with. That inner conflict is what created,” Piper gestured to the crime scene they stood in, “all this. It’s an urge to stabilise himself emotionally.”</p><p>“In which case,” Emily continued, “something is triggering his need to escape, something that makes him feel vulnerable.”</p><p>“So, he can’t allow himself the vulnerability. Escape into the fantasy protects him from ever having to look at himself,” Hotch added as an afterthought.</p><p>“You know, if the unsub lives in their skin, odds are, he’s living in their hotel rooms. We need ID,” Morgan pointed out. Hotch ordered for the prints of this victim to be sent to Garcia so she could find out the victim’s hotel room. For the first time in a long time, Piper was headed back out into the field.</p><p>“How’s your shoulder?” Spencer murmured as they speed-walked up the stairs, two at a time.</p><p>“Spence, it’s been a month.” He stared at her. “It’s fine. Seriously. Besides, I’m sick of being cooped up in police precincts.”</p><p>“Right.” They crept up to room 314, quietly unholstering their guns. Piper felt comfort wash over her as her forefinger wrapped around the trigger. Lopez stood behind the door, gun at the ready as Derek pushed the door open. They fluidly moved into practised positions as Lopez charged straight ahead while Derek and Emily covered her flanks and Spencer and Piper covered their backs. Finding the main room clear, Lopez kept her gun trained on the bathroom door through which she could hear running water. Piper pushed the door open for her and together they marched inside back-to-back to find nothing. The room was empty. "The place is torn apart." </p><p>"What could he be looking for?” Emily asked as Piper and Lopez came back out of the bathroom. </p><p>“Could be anything. Money, clothes, car keys?” Piper pondered. “We could order a full inventory, but we can only guess at what’s missing." </p><p>"I’m gonna check if Rogers had a rental car.” Piper nodded at Derek as he left.</p><p>“Emily and I’ll start sorting through…” Piper trailed off as she gestured to the mess in the hotel room. </p><p>“I’ll call CSU, they’ll get here in 5 minutes,” Lopez informed as Piper pulled clear gloves from her pocket and knelt to the open suitcase. </p><p>“What’s his plan?” Piper murmured to Spencer standing behind her. </p><p>“The unsub can’t follow his pattern. He thinks there might have been a witness, so he’s gonna need to change identities sooner than usual." </p><p>"What if he can’t?” Piper mused, standing up. </p><p>“What do you mean?" </p><p>"We’re predicting that the unsub may take another life in the next 24 hours because there was a witness who saw him. Garcia said the first 2 victims disappeared in one day so what if somebody might have seen something that threatened the unsub with getting caught?” Emily stood up, joining them. </p><p>“Steven Fitzgerald first went missing 2 months ago, took a bus to Miami from Oakland park, never seen again. Robert Feeney flew in for a wedding but never arrived at his hotel.”</p><p>“Right, well, Hotch and Rossi are still at the precinct so they can get to the families quicker. There’s gotta be a common factor between the two men.”</p><p>Rossi exited the SUV outside the two-storey house as Hotch followed close behind. They observed the young woman planting in the garden outside the porch. Her hair was loosely tied in a braid that flowed around the side of her neck and covered in shade by the bucket hat she wore. She got up, noticing the two men in sunglasses, brushing the dirt off of her green overalls. The two men couldn’t be more different. One was wearing a dark suit in the 100-degree heat while the other wore a pale blue button-up with sleeves rolled to the elbows. She watched them, trowel in hand, stride towards her father’s house. Clearing her throat, she asked if she could help the gentlemen. <em>Hopefully,</em> she thought, <em>they just needed directions. </em>Her heart sunk as they flashed their badges and asked if anyone was home. “Just me ‘n my dad.” They wanted to speak to him about Stevie. She opened the gate to the front lawn and motioned for them to come in. While Rossi walked inside, Hotch stayed to talk to the young woman. As they finished the interviews, both gentlemen looked agonised by Steven Fitzgerald’s past. Seated in the car, Hotch pulled out his cell and dialled Piper’s number.</p><p><em>“Hey, Hotch! Whatchya find?” </em>Rossi spoke first.</p><p>“Steven Fitzgerald’s father is a prison guard. That heavily conservative background you guessed? Perfectly describes him.”</p><p>
  <em>“Shit. Was he abusive?”</em>
</p><p>“Yeah. Used prison tactics to try and beat the gay out of his son. Saw Steven’s homosexuality as a failing. Thought Steven was gay just to piss him off.” Hotch put forward his own findings.</p><p>“Sarah, Steven’s sister, she sent him on the bus to Miami to protect him.”</p><p>“Essentially his father convinced him he was worthless, contemptible for being who he was, and he believed him, so he found a way to become someone else, anyone else.”</p><p>
  <em>“So Steven isn’t missing. He’s our unsub. Morgan found something here too. Deacon Rogers never rented a car, he drove here from Texas. Lopez put a BOLO out on the car. I’ll text you the address.”</em>
</p><p>“Okay, we’ll be back soon.” Hotch flipped the phone shut and started the car.</p><p>The team walked up to the crime scene, almost in formation. Piper felt sick as she saw the victim’s head drooping on the car seat. “Victim was asphyxiated, male, same age range. He left the car, why?” Lopez asked them.</p><p>“Still transference. He’s adopting their identities as their own,” Piper explained. “I’m guessing this guy was picked up along the way.”</p><p>“He’s not becoming his victims by choice,” Reid elaborated. “It’s his illness. He’d have to travel the exact same way.”</p><p>“From the looks of his sunburn, he was hitchhiking,” Rossi noted as Morgan leaned into the vehicle, pulling out scraps of paper. One including a receipt to a youth hostel which he displayed to the team dated from last night. “Any hostels near here?” Rossi asked Lopez.</p><p>“There are a few hostels in North Miami Beach, 4 miles that way,” Lopez pointed, “and in Seneca, 5 miles west.”</p><p>“We’ll have to split up.” Morgan, Bishop and Lopez drove to Seneca, Lopez and Morgan in the SUV with back up behind them, Bishop speeding ahead on her bike. She pulled into the first hostel she saw as Lopez and Morgan took the next. They worked like that for 3 hostels before the sun started sinking into the horizon. As dusk settled in, they were at the last hostel, asking for Michael Aldridge. Heart pounding, Piper realised the hostels were more like a building with dorms, full of kids, and Steven was in there, still with Luvet’s gun. The same realisation fell on Lopez as she started running in. Morgan tried to stop her, to make her wait for the team, but her ferocity regarding the situation clearly made him think twice. Piper unlatched her gun and followed without a second thought and Morgan stood there for a few minutes, helpless, before following them both, beckoning the officers on back up to pursue. Piper’s finger latched on to the trigger, silently steeling herself. Carefully, she started filing kids out of the dayroom, until there were only two left in the back table. One kid slowly put his hands up and Piper waved him outside. Finally, there was only Detective Lopez, Dr Bishop, Agent Morgan and two officers, all of them raising their guns to Steven. They tried beckoning them but it wasn’t until Piper called out that he turned to face them.</p><p>“Michael,” she called. “We’d like to speak to you. If you could slowly raise your hands and turn around, it would be greatly appreciated.” Piper spoke evenly, hoping her voice wouldn’t betray the steadily increasing beat in her chest. She tried to ignore her shoulder as Steven listened. He swivelled his head, speaking in a German accent, hand still shoved in the backpack. </p><p>“I have done nothing. I didn’t do anything.”</p><p>“Michael, would you put the bag on the floor please?” Piper tried to remain calm, but her brain pounded with possibilities. In that one moment, she imagined the scenario she dreaded, where Michael would pull out Luvet’s gun and shoot Morgan twice. She was panicking. She hadn’t been in the field in so long, she forgot how to breathe. <em>Inhale…1…2… Hold…1…2… Exhale…1…2…3…</em></p><p>“I have done nothing. I didn’t do anything.”</p><p>“I know Michael. We just want to ask you some questions. Do you know where Steven is?” She asked as gently as she could.</p><p>“No. I don’t know Steven.”</p><p>“Try to remember Michael. Where is Steven?”</p><p>“No. I don’t know Steven! I don’t know Steven! Why do you want Steven? Steven is stupid. He’s–He’s disgusting! He’s filthy!” Steven spat, breathing heavily.</p><p>“No, he isn’t. You aren’t disgusting, Steven. You aren’t filthy. You are human, Steven and you are loved.” She spoke softly, slowly lowering her gun. “Nothing is wrong with you.” The young man in front of her glanced toward the other, all with their guns raised. “Ignore them, Steven. They don’t know you. Look at me. Look right at me.” Piper raised her hands, stepping carefully towards him. “Do you remember Sarah, Steven?”</p><p>“S–Sarah?”</p><p>“Sarah is your sister. She loves you very much, Steven. She wants you to come home, Steven. She wants you to stop running.”</p><p>“Sarah.” He murmured, recognition flashing in his eyes.</p><p>“We aren’t going to hurt you, Steven. Just put the bag down. It’s gonna be okay.” She was inches away. If he just dropped the bag… It slipped and Piper pulled him towards her, enveloping him in a hug.</p><p>“I never did anything,” he sobbed as she rubbed his back.</p><p>“Let’s get you out of here, Steven.” She released him then turned him around. “I have to do this, Steven.” She cuffed him gently as he kept whispering that he didn’t do anything. As the officers took him away, she collapsed in the nearest seat possible, breathing heavily. Morgan rubbed her shoulder, whispering that she did good. She just sat there for a couple of minutes as Morgan and Lopez left with Steven. As Morgan and Lopez flirted outside, Piper started crying silently. There was no reason, and yet every reason as she slipped out the back to her bike to drive back to the precinct, texting Derek that she’d left. </p><p>Derek slowly pushed Steven into the police car before he turned to the detective. “That friend of yours is good,” she remarked.</p><p>“That’s why she’s here.”</p><p>“No, I mean, I could never pretend to be that empathetic to a murderer.”</p><p>“Easy to do when you’re not pretending.” The young woman gave him a small smile as she gave the backpack to another officer.</p><p>“You like it here, huh?”</p><p>“South Beach? What’s not to like? When I’m off-duty of course.”</p><p>“Anytime you’re free, I can introduce you to the real South Beach, stuff we locals like to keep to ourselves.” </p><p>“You think you can show me a good time, huh?” </p><p>“You look like mojitos, Cuban food, Brazilian jazz.” He chuckled.</p><p>“Not bad.” </p><p>“Call it an educated guess. Come on down, Papi. I’ll take good care of you.” </p><p>“I’ll hold you to that.” He chuckled as she sauntered off. His jovial mood quickly faded as Hotch pulled up in front of him. “Hotch–”</p><p>“You couldn’t wait?” Derek glanced at the leaving detective and to the hostel where he’d left Piper.</p><p>“This one’s on me, Hotch. I didn’t think we had enough time.” Hotch licked his lips, before turning back to the car. </p><p>At the precinct, Piper downed her bottle of water as she played with her bike keys, glancing ever so often at JJ and Will in the corner. Emily joined her and they both watched the two, groaning as one left. Piper nudged Emily to egg JJ on. She watched hopefully as Emily murmured something to JJ. “You know what?” murmured JJ as she ran towards Will. <em>Finally.</em> Piper walked over to Emily and they watched, smiling as their girl confessed to the boy. They were about to slap their foreheads when she kept rambling but cheered silently as Will pulled JJ in for a slow, sweet kiss. His hands wrapped around JJ’s waist as Derek and Spencer joined the other girls. </p><p>“I thought she was never gonna admit it,” Derek joked as Piper pushed Derek’s arm off from around her shoulders.</p><p>“Yeah," Spencer assented. "What’s it been, like, a year?” </p><p>“Yeah, something like that,” Emily muttered. </p><p>“We should stop watching before it gets creepy,” Piper declared, walking off as the others followed.</p>
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